TIFF 2014: Four Short Films to Watch at Toronto International Film Festival

A military truck belonging to the Saudi border guards force patrols near a fence on Saudi Arabia's northern borderline with Iraq, in this July 14, 2014 file photo.
REUTERS/Faisal Nasser/Files

The Toronto International Film Festival officially announced the list of films to be shown in its 39th edition in July. The list includes some of the most talented names in the short film category. Here are the four of them.

8 bullets (France) - Director: Frank Ternier

The official Web site of the festival describes this film as a "feverish, suspenseful mixed-media animation" which is about a French expat in Taipei. Gabriel, the protagonist of the film, finds out the man who, according to him, killed his wife. He only knows that it was a red-haired man who used his weapon on his family. He feels empty, "a hole in the head," since the stranger killed his family.

(NULL) (Germany) - Directors: David Gesslbauer and Michael Lange

This 4 min 21 sec film does not have any dialogue. Yet, it managed to be one of the most expressive films at the festival. It won several awards which included Best Picture U.F.O. Film Festival 2014, Short Tiger 2014 and Best Experimental Film Bucharest 2013. The film was shown at Art Film Festival Cannes 2014. In the words of the official Web site, it is a "delightfully unique vision of a trip around the wheel of life."

Eye & Mermaid (Qatar/Saudi Arabia) - Director: Shahad Ameen

This film is about a little girl Hanan. Her father brings black pearls which she finds to be stunning. She decides to follow the men who go to the sea. The official description of the film says that it is about "beauty, freedom, riches" - the most cherished things. Those, on the other hand, may come at a terrible cost.

The Last Day of Summer (The Netherlands) - Director: Feike Santbergen

The film is about three teenagers who spend the last day of summer on a quiet beach. One of the friends gets a phone call to be informed of a tragic update which makes them realise that the future is not going to be the same any more. While they deal with the shock, they try to find "solace beneath the expansive, uncaring canopy of the overcast skies."